Preliminary links about Islam I

Before I get to my main points about Islam, here are a few comments in posts around Blogland that I found today revealing some basic assumptions held in America. Please keep in mind that anything I say about 'Islam', of which I have no specialized knowledge, is really about our perception and attitudes towards Islam.

First, to give an example of an opinion on the topic that we can safely ignore because its mindless belligerence backed up by invincible ignorance is not amenable to argument, let's read this post from andrewsullivan.com's 'E-Mail of the Day'. It was written by a reader in response to a combat vet of the Iraq invasion describing his experience with captured Iraqis.

It's imbecilic to think that they [the Iraqi POWs] surrendered because they knew our kindness. They surrendered because of the hellatious ass-whomping they would receive. Prostrate yourself and be treated kindly.

Fight us and die. Those we detain and torture are those that chose the second path. This makes them a good lesson for those contemplating the first.

Note the macho truculence and verbal chest thumping. The first sentence of the comment BTW reads "I'm sorry your soldier is a moron." This is typical of a certain type of blog commentary - simply call your opponent names. It may provide a useful vent to toxic emotions, but it is not an argument. And I hear the whine of trolls.

You will also notice that the writer casually assumes that we all accept that our troops have been torturing any who resist us. Apparently he missed el Prez' categorical denial of the US using torture.